It was more than three weeks ago that we traveled to Florida for Spring Break. These long trips are hard to blog, because there is just so much that goes on. The short version is that it was a blast for all involved. We’re mountain people, so when Mandy came to me with the idea of a beach trip, it didn’t sound all that appealing. I like active, physical vacations, and I pictured lying around, doing nothing for a week as the most boring vacation possible. She convinced me that the kids would love it, and she really wanted to go, so we agreed. It turned out that doing nothing was pretty relaxing; the sound of the wind and waves was medicine for the soul. Watching the boys delight in their new playground was priceless.
We left on March 12th. I went in to work early for a meeting, while Mandy finished packing for the trip. Mid-morning, I bailed and headed home. Mandy had the van ready with kids in their seats, and we rushed off to the airport. The kids love an adventure, so the flight was not bad even with E getting bored towards the end.
By the time we got rental cars and luggage squared away, and finally made it to our house, it was nearly 6:00 PM. My first move was to back the minivan into the wall behind our parking space while trying to park. This house had four parking spaces, and given the narrow alley behind it, three of the cars had backed into that same wall by the end of the week. Noah and his friend Murray immediately wanted to play in the ocean. They were excited and fearless, treading right on out into the surf to get slammed by waves. Surprisingly, for me, I was nervous watching them.
By the time we got rental cars and luggage squared away, and finally made it to our house, it was nearly 6:00 PM. My first move was to back the minivan into the wall behind our parking space while trying to park. This house had four parking spaces, and given the narrow alley behind it, three of the cars had backed into that same wall by the end of the week. Noah and his friend Murray immediately wanted to play in the ocean. They were excited and fearless, treading right on out into the surf to get slammed by waves. Surprisingly, for me, I was nervous watching them.
There were two great things about our beach house: it was right on the beach, and it had a pool, and the following day we took advantage of both. The kids alternated between them for about 8 hours, stopping only to eat a snack once in awhile. We found a man-o-war on the beach, and suddenly Noah was aware that there really were animals that lived in the oceans. He became much more reserved about going in the water, unless I carried him. Despite all of our best efforts, it was impossible to keep them adequately sun-screened 100% of the time, and we ended the day with some seriously red faces and shoulders. Bedtime was easy.
Given the sunburns, we decided to go to the Miami Seaquarium the following day to see the big fish. We petted the stingrays for a few minutes, then headed off to swim with the dolphins. The trainers came back for Noah and Mandy, and directed them to a dressing room for wetsuits. Not understanding the physical dynamics of wetsuits, Noah asked the innocuous question, “Does that suit fit you, Mom?” while watching her struggle to get it on.
They watched a safety video, then were led out into the “pool”. The water was cold, and Noah was nervous. He shook hands with the dolphin, but refused to submerge and watch him swim by and listen to him ‘talk’. Mandy gave the dolphin a kiss, then got splashed for her efforts. Afterward, we played at the playground, and watched the sharks get fed.
Elliot’s sandals had burned blisters into his heels, and he cried pitifully as I tried to clean and bandage them. He and I sat and had an ice cream while he recovered, then joined Mandy at the killer whale show. It is both sad and impressive to see those giants in action, and brave/crazy of those trainers to get into the water with them. On the way out, we visited the crocodiles and sea turtles, which were the best part of the day for the boys.
The next day, we were back to the beach/pool routine, but this time we had lots of sunscreen poured on. It didn’t seem to do much good, as Noah got too much sun again - probably a function of the sand taking off the sunscreen.
The following morning, the boys were up early as usual, so went to IHOP of all places, so the kids could have pancakes. Noah’s nose blistered and opened, making the decision of beach/no-beach for us. Mandy took E for the day, and I took Noah to an indoor play place called Funderdome. He did the rock climbing wall, the sky ropes course, foam ball guns and the giant playground, but his favorite was the laser maze, where you try to climb through a dark room filled with lasers without setting off alarms.
The day with Noah reminded me that I needed to divide and conquer a little more often. He was a perfect little kid - excited, gracious, fun and well-behaved. We stopped for pizza for lunch, then played some more. Afterwards we went for frozen yogurt, where he made the “best ice cream dish ever, right dad?” We drove down to the inlet and looked at all the massive cruise ships on display, boarding new passengers. He was awed by their size, as was I. Seeing all those people pour onboard made it even less likely I would ever take a cruise.
The next day, Noah woke up early because he “wanted to play on the beach in the dark”, so we grabbed a pop-tart and sat out on the front porch for breakfast. He only ate one when he decided he wanted to go play in the giant hole. We grabbed shovels, dug for a little while, and then sat in the hole to rest and talk. He told me he missed his friend Zaria, but that he wanted to stay in Florida “at least two more days”, and then asked me to tell him a special story.
After that, we retreated back to the porch to finish his pop tart and watch the sun come up at 6:30. Once everyone was up, I read stories to both boys on the couch. In one, I made a snoring noise about the man who was portrayed as sleeping, when Elliot said, “Daddy, you make that sound in my bed!”, referring to the many times I fall asleep while putting him to sleep at night.
Afterward, we walked along the beach until Noah decided he wanted to play in the “deep waves”. He and I went out pretty far, and Noah got back some of his bravery. I told him to “shake his bootie” at the waves so he would turn around when they hit, rather than hitting him head on and splashing salt water up his nose. Eventually he got comfortable enough to start swimming in the rough surf. After a little bit, we went back into the pool for a few hours, breaking only for lunch and drinks. Elliot faded soon after, and he and I went down for a short nap. Mandy and I went next door to Oceans 11 for a drink while Elliot was napping.
It was St. Patrick’s Day when we rented one of the beachside bikes that scream “I’m a tourist!” and rode down the beach. We stopped at a bar for drinks and hotdogs, and generally had a lazy evening walking and riding along the boardwalk.
Our flight back to KC left at 9:45 AM. On our final morning in Hollywood Beach, we had last minute packing to do, and rental cars to return, but wanted to enjoy one last walk down the coast. We walked north this time, to the park area, where I told the boys to be on the lookout for alligators, which they took semi-seriously. Noah insisted again on staying a couple more days..
The flight home was fine, even with an extra stop, but all of us thought the vacation had been too short. Even several weeks later, Noah’s favorite memory was of he and I going out into the waves to play. I hope they both have good memories of this trip.
